Into the Rift
by Freelancer Josiah
Summary: It is the year 2035. The Rift has opened, and Rift Running/Mercenary work has become the highest paying job in the underground. Of the many Mercenary teams, the Phoenix Coalition is one of the most well known and powerful in the Rift. This is the story of how they came together. PENDING REWRITE
1. Prologue

Hey, y'all! Freelancer Josiah here with a brand new story. This is the prologue to it, meant to set the scene for the adventure to come. This one is, as I'm sure you can see, quiiiiite a bit different to Battle for the Pizzeria.

Now don't panic, I still fully intend on working on Five Nights at Freddy's stories; in fact, you may see something new coming from the Five Lives at Redding's EU sometime later today!

For now, give this a read and see what y'all think. This story is very much an experiment for me, to see just how good I can write action sequences and create a compelling story that isn't focused on one specific universe.

On with the show!

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><p>It is a new generation in human history.<p>

In 2019, humankind was on the brink of disaster; increasing population had caused global famine followed by rioting and terrorism.

Worse still, the major superpowers of the world were unable to adequately deal with the situation thanks to corporate finance and interests preventing them from interfering.

Combined with worldwide natural disasters, the planet's population was living in a constant state of danger.

Humanity's future looked to be at risk.

In 2022, as a last-ditch effort to try and control the teeming populations, the United Nations rearranged their powers and became the Unified Earth Government. Their goal was simple; to reduce the tensions and stresses of the population through a combination of political discussion, diplomatic relations, and military strength.

The attempt failed, and the UEG slowly devolved into tyranny. Meanwhile, those surviving and outside of its scope of its control resorted to medieval feudalism and claiming territory from others to try and consolidate their power while also perpetually waging war against the UEG's armies.

The technology of the 21st century remained, and was continually turned into larger and more devastating weapons for the factions to fire at both each other and the UEG. The mutually assured destruction caused a standoff between the entirety of humanity.

The world seemed to be on the brink of destruction, until…

In 2025, a freak incident occurred within the Solar System. Two black holes formed in immediate proximity to each other. The gravitational forces they exerted on each other proved to be so extreme that they not only consumed each other but also tore a hole in the fabric of time and space.

Shortly afterwards, unidentified starships emerged from the gap. Believing them to be hostile, the forces of humanity set aside their differences to attempt to destroy the ships before they were able to reach Earth.

The human fighters struck first, destroying one large warship and crippling several more, before the unidentified ships fired back with weapons and technology far beyond what human science had been able to develop.

This began a long, brutal interstellar war. Humanity had only one safe point, however they were fighting to protect their home so in spite of the significant number of hostile ships emerging from the gap, they were unable to make major progress beyond Mars.

The war continued for another ten long years, during which human technology rapidly advanced in order to better combat their foes. Combined with the strengthened economy from warfare, this brought humanity out of its dark age.

Finally, at the ten year anniversary of the war, humankind had an official contact with the aliens, finally able to meet them outside of their armored suits and warships. What they found was a shock to them all.

The aliens were not unknown to humanity.

They were works of fiction, characters found within entertainment.

The first contact was with General Pepper of the Lylat Army, as well as the mercenary team Star Fox. After major confusion, humanity and the Lylatians met and discussed the situation.

As it turns out, the gap in time and space was actually a rift; a portal opening the way to parallel planes of existence, many of which existed in our own as little more than stories.

The UEG, once more controlling a unified Earth, entered into its first interdimensional alliance with Lylat, agreeing to trade both technology and understanding; as it turns out, Lylatians had a great interest in human culture and architecture, and agreed to trade technology for it.

As word spread of this, research was devoted to the rift; humanity wanted to know if there were more planes of existence besides our own and Lylat. After several months of sending transmissions through the rift, they had their answers.

Three signals transmitted replies within the first two months; Miles "Tails" Prower hailed from Mobius, a world similar yet different to our own. Duke Ian Dresari, hailing from House Davion within the 'Inner Sphere', which was found to be from a universe known as BattleTech. And finally, a signal from an organization calling themselves the Tau Empire, the second completely alien race that entered into an alliance with humanity.

During the year after these first three signals, alliances were forged between them all, adding in several new ones as they sent signals through the rift, as well as scientific missions to explore further into it and locate any further dimensions to ally with.

It is on the tail of these scientific missions that Rift Artifacts are first discovered and named. Further study of these Artifacts revealed that each dimension had its own items of power unique to its particular plane of existence, and yet fully functional in separate planes. Chaos Emeralds from Mobius, Clan Technology from BattleTech, and tainted/purified artifacts from the Tau's universe, later labeled as Warhammer: 40,000.

The discovery and revealing of these Rift Artifacts caused the UEG and the Dimensional Alliances to restrict the passage of items through the rift; only military or government personnel were allowed to remove anything without it being thoroughly inspected, and being caught attempting to traverse the Rift with an Artifact became a high crime.

This criminalization of Artifact transfer gave birth to a black market, spanning all known dimensions. The illegal occupation of Rift Running, smuggling Artifacts from one dimension to another without authorization, became a high risk and high reward job as corporations and private citizens clamored for the powers and abilities granted through the Artifacts.

However, the value of these Artifacts combined with the difficulty of collecting them caused tension within the Runners, and violent incidents between Runner starships became commonplace. This increase in violence, combined with the sheer magnitude of danger now facing corporations, caused a greatly increased demand in mercenaries to defend both Runners and corporations.

Mercenary work became second only to Rift Running in occupational value, and the highest paid mercenaries were often the ones with Rift Artifacts of their own. It became common to see mercenaries with Tau Pulse weapons, or swords enchanted with otherworldly powers from realms such as Tamriel, and seeing BattleMechs on missions fighting against Titan-class combat mechs or Armored Cores became commonplace.

The UEG and the Dimensional Alliance, although officially not approving of the activities of Rift Runners and Mercenaries, finally came to an unsteady agreement; keep Rift Artifacts out of the hands of the general public and don't actively attack government units, and the governments would leave the Runners and Mercs in peace.

Ten years after the war ended, a shocking number of dimensions had already been discovered, many of which had either been engaged in diplomatic relations or locked away as 'hostile realities' too dangerous for the public. Ironically, these 'hostile realities' became a breeding ground for pirates, as well as common staging grounds for Runner and Mercenary bases.

Despite the vast numbers, these bases became well known as common places for the greatest Runners and Mercenaries to convene, and it was often that visitors would see groups like Star Fox or the Black Knight Legion at them, resting and trading stories and advice. One such well-known Mercenary team was the Phoenix Coalition, led by Josiah Eldritch; a veteran of the First Contact War, and one of the most well-known names in the business.

The Phoenix Coalition, an organization including a four man elite Mercenary team and operating from a Lylatian Dreadnaught known as the Firebird, was one of the most skilled ground team Mercenary organizations known. The ground team was made up of Josiah Eldritch, a partially-cybernetic soldier and the leader of the Coalition; Myst na Volinsk, the ground team's fast-attack and hand-to-hand expert and half-vampire; Benjamin Rabbit, a tan-furred Mobian rabbit, the team's long-range and scouting expert as well as a master with a sniper rifle; and Brett Stewart, the former commander of a team known as X-Com and the ground team's heavy weapons expert. Supported by the technicians and engineers aboard the Firebird as well as their Artificial Intelligence, a "smart" AI named Issak, the Coalition was one of the most expensive and best mercenary teams in the Rift.

This is their story.

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><p>Prologue done! Review away and let me know what y'all think; should I keep going with this? Rework it? Scrap the whole thing and try it again another time?<p>

Read and review!


	2. Meet Josiah Eldritch

Hey, y'all! New chapter of Into the Rift here. This time, it's a brief introduction to one of our four protagonists, Josiah Eldritch. Don't have much to say, so on with the show!

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><p>The heavy glass hit the bar counter with a resounding <em>thunk<em>. "Another." Came the gruff voice of the person holding it, his left hand gently gasping the shot glass as he looked up to the barkeep. _First one down for the night, now the rest can take their time…_ With a smirk, the barkeeper filled his glass once more, letting the man lean back and look over the seedy place. The Last Stand bar on Macbeth, in the Lylat System, one of the few hangouts and meeting places for mercenaries and Rift Runners that wasn't under a heavily watchful eye by the Cornerian military. Granted, it also made it a bit of a nasty place for common travelers, but he wasn't worried.

If there was one thing Josiah Eldritch wasn't, it was a common traveler.

He flexed the three claw-like fingers of his cybernetic right arm; it was a heavy robotic, built to take a beating both in combat and in everyday life. He appreciated its bulk; it allowed him to add in some very unofficial modifications that had on several occasions saved his life. His left 'eye' – could hardly be called an eye; another cybernetic that was actually covering half that side of his face beneath a layer of synthflesh with a single optical visor, glowing a cool blue at the moment – scanned through the place, syncing the patrons up with a bit of facial recognition software. If he so chose, he could enable a remote sync to all local and galactic ship registrations, filing through them until he had a positive match. If that didn't turn up anything, he could remotely access the records of the Dimensional Alliance and shuffle through them, reality by reality, until he found out exactly who he was looking at.

All of this was highly illegal, however it had saved his life on several occasions and had managed to get him a healthy paycheck to boot; his recognition software also accessed the Interdimensional Bounty Hunter's Association to see if there was anything worth the credits within. And, as he looked over the crowd, he was not surprised to see most faces registering bounties of some amount. Nothing worth his trouble, however.

_Then again, that could change in an instant… And looks like it's about to._ Sure enough, in walked three tough looking paramilitary guys, all dressed in the same black armor with green highlights. His eye flicked over to them, the cybernetic immediately beginning to scan through the records looking for a match while his good eye took it in; black and green, and with a dark green planet as the unit patch… These guys were pretty clearly members of Viper's Venom, one of the more ruthless mercenary teams in Lylat. Meanwhile, the three of them came up to the bar, the de facto leader slamming his fist down.

"OY! Ya got anything with some actual kick in here?!" He yelled. Josiah looked at them with a bored expression; the arctic wolf was the first one to speak; according to his sleeves, he had the rank of Sergeant in the Vipers, and two Corporals; one an orange and black tiger, and the other was a rather nasty looking crocodile. They all looked fairly bulky and tough, but Josiah shrugged; he wasn't interested in getting into a brawl unless they started it. _And I kinda hope they do…_

Sure enough, the barkeep apparently took too long to bring them a set of drinks, and the wolf grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him half over the bar. "Took ya blasted long enough. Maybe I should stick your hand in my chum's mouth over here, that'll make ya remember what happens when you take too long." They laughed, and Josiah rolled his eyes before turning his attention over to them, his long coat swaying slightly.

"Gentlemen, I highly suggest you put the bartender down before I take this drink-" He hoisted his own glass- "And toss it in your eye." They stared at him for a moment, before laughing.

"Look at this guy! Big bad human thinks he's cool stuff because he was able to get a ride through the Rift." The wolf laughed, before nodding; the crocodile grabbed Josiah by his coat and snarled. "If ye don' keep yer yap shut an' sit yerself down, we're gonna have a problem, boyo…" Josiah met the crocodile's stare evenly, just as the recognition software pinged. He smirked as he saw the heavy bounty on all three of them, the smirk turning into a grin as he saw the words 'Dead or Alive' scroll across.

Josiah rested his good hand on the croc's arm and smiled. "Seems like you're the first through the grinder…" The croc tilted his head… And from Josiah's arm, a noise like hellfire came out as he activated one of his nastier tricks. The three 'fingers' of his claw-like hand came together into one, and began a swift, deadly spin. He punched forwards, the makeshift drill punching through armor, thick hide, and into the crocodile's body before spreading open and firing off several plasma blasts that flash-boiled his insides. The croc coughed up smoke, and the smell of charred meat filled the air for a moment before he fell to the side, not moving.

To their credit, the other two were quick to respond, pulling blasters out as fast as they could and already starting to open fire, attempting to burn Josiah where he stood. With a sigh, he dodged to the side and altered his arm again; a port just above his wrist opened, and out popped a pair of energy cannons. His eye's auto-targeting engaged, and he squeezed off twin blasts of green-white energy, instantly burning through the tiger's skull and dropping him where he stood.

The wolf seemed less than amused by this and attempted to pounce into him, teeth bared in a feral snarl as he attempted to drive his fangs into Josiah's throat. He caught the berserker charge, throwing the wolf over his shoulder onto an empty table. It broke under the impact, and as the wolf attempted to recover his composure, Josiah finished the fight. With a sharp 'SNICT' a two foot ceramite blade was revealed, and shortly afterwards found itself buried in his adversary's neck, stabbing through his spinal cord and instantly killing him.

Josiah retracted the blade with that same SNICT sound, before taking his glass and finishing off his drink. With a nod, he slid a fairly heavy number of credits over to the astonished barkeep. "Sorry about the mess." With a nod, Josiah left the bar, a bit of blood still dripping from his cybernetic arm.

Once he was outside, Josiah took a deep breath and lit a cigarette, checking the bounties with the HUD available through his cybernetic eye. He smiled slightly as he saw the bounties for all three mercenaries ticking off; the pay would be in his account within the day. Satisfied, he took a slow drag from his cigarette… And froze, hearing someone shifting in the alley near where he was. Quickly activating his wrist blasters, he eyed the alleyway cautiously before slowly moving down it. With a blink, his 'eye' flipped into the IR spectrum, lighting up the darkness with relative ease.

It was because of this brief advantage that Josiah survived the next ten seconds as someone came barreling out from behind a dumpster, swinging what looked to be an energized machete towards his throat. He dodged back, immediately starting to fire his wrist blaster blindly towards where his assailant had come from. The figure jumped back, holding its arm, giving Josiah a perfect chance to pounce forward, the three claws of his arm wrapping around the assailant's neck. "You have exactly five seconds to explain why you tried to kill me." He growled, his grip tightening.

The assailant wheezed, flailed his arms for a moment, and finally managed to squeak out… "…job… test…" This caught Josiah's attention enough to loosen his grasp, letting the guy – who appeared to be a middle-aged human – speak.

"I… *cough* I know who you are, Mr. Eldritch. You're one of the most well-known Lone-Wolf mercenaries in the Rift, and you have the track record to match." Josiah tilted his head, but allowed him to continue. "I sent those three Vipers in to test your skills in a public setting, and just now was a test of your reflexes in an ambush situation. Both of these will be required for what I'm about to offer you… If you'll put me down, I'll tell you the third skill."

Josiah shrugged and nonchalantly let go, allowing the strange man to land very unceremoniously on the ground, before picking himself up and dusting himself off. "Talk."

"Ah yes, man of few words… Anyway, the third skill is simple. Working with a small team."

Josiah blanched at this; just the idea of working with any kind of team gave him a nauseated feeling… "I work alone. There's a reason for that."

The strange man nodded. "I understand that, Mr. Eldritch. However, the scale of this particular mission requires a four-man team, each with their own individual skillsets. You were chosen for your tactical knowledge and ability to react to strange situations in creative ways."

Josiah raised an eyebrow and started to speak, before being cut off again. "We're offering a healthy amount of pay, as well as a capital ship that the four of you can use as your own. Should you choose to stick together afterwards, you can keep the ship; it's a Cornerian Mk. II Dreadnaught, if that interests you…"

Josiah's eyes widened at this. A Mk. II? That was the same class of ship the Star Fox Team used… He'd always wanted a cap ship of his own, and this seemed like the perfect chance. Plus, with the amount of money that would go into something of this extreme…

Wait. There's only one job that could offer this kind of payoff.

"You're a Rift Runner, aren't you?" He was straightforward, blank-faced. He knew judging based on it would make him a hypocrite, so all he did was ask. "I don't do Runs."

The man looked uncomfortable for a long moment, before speaking. "It's a simple Run, Mr. Eldritch. No run-ins with officials, the worst you'll have on the space side of things is fighting off a few pirates."

He raised an eyebrow. "The space side. And what about the ground side?"

The man looked even more uncomfortable. "Mr. Eldritch, I can't disclose anything further unless I have your word that you will take this mission."

A deep, annoyed sigh came from the cybernetic mercenary, before he finally nodded. "This paycheck had better be worth it."

The man seemed to let out a sigh of relief, before speaking once more. "Excellent. Now, Mr. Eldritch, with regards to your team… We're assembling three highly skilled mercenaries from throughout the rift for this operation, each with their own specific field of expertise; a stealth and infiltration expert, a master at long range combat and reconnaissance, and a heavy weapons expert. Each of you will have your own part to play in this operation, and you all must play it to your best efforts if it is to succeed."

Josiah stared for a moment, before leaning against the wall. "You still haven't told me the job. I'm guessing it has something to do with an Artifact, probably in a Blocked Universe."

The man stared, stammering for a moment, before responding. "You… Are correct. There is a Rift Artifact that my superiors wish to reacquire, and it is currently located within a Blocked Universe. However, there is one other point that must be mentioned."

Josiah leaned forwards slightly, beckoning him to go on.

"The artifact in question is being held by a dangerous terrorist organization, and we are hiring the four of you to break into their home base and steal it for us. Suffice to say, Mr. Eldritch... You will be robbing a terrorist-held Artifact bank."

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><p>So the basic plotline begins to reveal itself...<p>

Read and review, and I'll see you next week with Myst's introduction!


	3. The Vampire's Cave

Welcome to another chapter of Into the Rift. Today, we get an introduction to the stealth expert of the team, Myst Na Volinsk.

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><p>The cavern was dark, gloomy, and to the normal passerby unassuming. It was one of those places that could easily blend into the countryside, never taking anyone's interest except for the occasional curious treasure-hunter, who would leave shortly after. It was quiet, unassuming, and nearly invisible; hidden in plain sight.<p>

It was the perfect hideout for Myst Na Volinsk, professional assassin.

She was a fairly tall woman, with a slender, agile build that betrayed her dexterity. Medium-length crimson hair fell behind her, often simply left to flow loose. Her bodysuit, a jet-black customized Mk. IV Infiltration Suit guaranteed that anyone not looking directly at her would simply see her as just another shadow in the darkness. She had a fit body, one that many people would describe as 'beautiful', and she knew how to use it to get anywhere she needed to.

She smiled, leaning back in her chair; she was one of the best assassins and infiltration operatives in the Rift, and she knew it. From sabotage and corporate espionage to cold-blooded killing, she was adept at it all. She could go from playing arm candy with a powerful CEO in order to sneak into their top-secret files, to driving a blade into the skull of the same elderly CEO in order to throw the corporation into disarray. She knew how to play people, how to manipulate them, and she loved every moment of it.

_The pay isn't bad, either…_ She giggled softly to herself, checking over the monitor; that cavern had some fairly high technology concealed within it, and she'd taken great pains to make sure it was a secure location, away from both the public and the light.

_After all,_ she thought as she grinned, revealing a pair of deadly, razor-sharp fangs, _a vampire's gotta eat._

Indeed, part of her skill in all things stealth came from her heritage; she had been reborn a vampire in the 'World of Darkness' dimension, and shortly afterwards discovered that the challenges held within were nothing compared to the thrill of running through the Rift, hunting and assassinating such a wide variety of creatures. She had tasted the blood of Mobians and Lylatians alike, and had mastered the art of blood magic to a fine point.

However, she had recently realized that the thrill of the hunt was no longer there; her targets, high profile and expensive as they were to kill, offered no challenge to the beautiful – and lethal – woman that could simply waltz into their office, kill them quickly and cleanly, and disappear out without ever having a trace of her skill being located.

Quite simply, Myst was bored.

Her computer pinged and she looked up, rolling her faintly-glowing eyes slightly as she saw it was another contract. Sitting up, she looked it over with idle curiosity, expecting another simple kill. As she read through the target information, her eyes widened; this wasn't an average CEO or politician… This was a military target. A high ranking general within House Steiner, in the Battletech universe. Genearal Lan Corsair, a skilled Nova Cat pilot and apparently a dangerous entity for House Davion.

The corners of her mouth perked up a bit in a smile; she didn't know too much about the Battletech universe, but she knew enough to figure out that it would be an interesting mission if nothing else. A high-ranking general would know how to fight both in his 'Mech and with a weapon in hand, so she could at least expect an interesting operation. Furthermore, he wouldn't be trusting of a strange – yet beautiful – woman appearing from thin air, so she'd have an actual infiltration challenge. And the payment was a rather healthy sum, as well…

After a bit more thought, she pressed the 'accept' button. She was confident in her abilities, and the paycheck would be good. With a smile, she watched as every file and document on General Corsair streamed across her monitor, analyzing everything she could. Apparently, he would be at a forward operations base within a month for a week-long inspection. That would be her time to strike; the base would be relatively understaffed and fairly far away from any type of reinforcements should things go wrong.

She turned her attention to another screen; if she was travelling through the Rift, she'd need to sort out some fake documentation and a way of travelling to Battletech and then back to her home. She paused, checking the time… Almost midnight, and she felt the urge to feed once more.

She shrugged, closing down her computer after transmitting a few basic requests. She had a month, plenty of time. For now, however…

She smiled and left her cave, a predatory gleam in her eyes. Town was roughly half a mile away; a decent walk before dinner sounded… Appealing.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was roughly three weeks before she had all the documentation in hand and a ticket to the Battletech universe with an official convoy. Three more days, and she was in the Battletech universe, arranging transport to the target's current system. Another four days and she was there, beginning to watch the outpost carefully, making sure to note the guard's locations and patterns.

Roughly two days after she arrived, she donned her Stealth Suit and began the infiltration. Sneaking into the base through a ventilation shaft on the side, her lithe body glided through the shafts, guided by her finely-tuned vampiric senses. All that could be seen of her within the ventilation gratings were her glowing amber eyes, and they only would last for a brief flicker before fading once more to darkness. She grinned; this was too easy… A few more turns, and she was above the command wing. With a sniff, she could sense it; blood… Her prey had to be in here. She undid the screws holding the vent closed, and crawled out, eyes scanning the room.

It was a fairly straightforward military office; leather chair, mahogany desk, a few filing cabinets behind it and two chairs on one side. A computer, a few trays for paperwork, and sitting in the chair was her quarry, Lan Corsair. His eyes snapped up when he heard her feet hit the ground and wasted no time in pressing a small button underneath his desk before Myst could even move.

Every alarm in the building started to sound, and she swore under her breath before unsheathing her assassin's blade and leaping across the table only to meet a straight-arm strike from the general, who was quick to pull a small pistol from his drawer and open fire. She dodged to the side, using some of her blood magic to strike him and throw his aim off. He swore, attempting to tag her in an uppercut. She dodged around it, slipping behind him and ramming her blade through his neck. He fell, choking on his own blood and trying to make one final grasp at her when she took his pistol and shot him neatly in the head.

She paused, taking a breath. That… Was interesting. She hadn't expected him to trip an alarm, and now all blazes was breaking loose. Glancing to the vent, she swore under her breath; apparently someone had triggered a full lockdown of the facility and now there was no way out except for the door in front of her, and judging by the sound of boots meeting floor she wouldn't be getting out that way without a fight… Or…

She chuckled lowly to herself, and focused for a moment. Her eyes glinted once in the darkness, before her Infiltrator suit did its job and turned her invisible. Combined with a bit of her blood magic, she was completely undetectable by any form of equipment. However, she knew she didn't have much time, and any automated defenses would ruin her plans in a hurry. With a nod, she slipped out the door and started moving down the many halls of the facility, occasionally pressing her back against a wall to avoid detection by the soldiers heading for the office of the deceased general. With a low chuckle, she slipped down the halls and into the night once more.

It took her roughly a day of laying low for the officials to finally cease the investigation, stating that the murderer had gotten away 'for now', and for the spaceports to open once more. Smuggling herself aboard a Rift Runner's vessel, she rode it all the way back home with a smile. _Another job, and that one was actually a little bit fun…_

Roughly three days later, she was back home and lounging in her cave once more. She was around a quarter of a million credits richer, and even had a few new toys sent her way for 'sending a message' so to speak. She laid back, ready to take a nap until dusk fell once more… Before a faint sound of footsteps outside her cave brought her to alert once again.

_Another treasure hunter… Geez, they're getting persistent lately. Ah well…_ She shut the machine down, and faded into the darkness neatly, assisted by a bit of her blood magic. _Just let him sate his curiosity, and he'll shove off._ That was the normal routine for her, but this time was a bit different. She caught a glimpse of the person, and an eyebrow raised as she realized that he was wearing a fairly fancy, yet casual business suit. She was even more shocked when he looked her right in the eye and spoke. "Good evening, miss Volinsk. May I have a word?"

She didn't waste any time before pouncing him down, eyes glaring into his own before leaning down, threateningly running a fang along his throat. "Please, before I kill you for intruding, tell me how you found me…"

Oddly, he didn't show any fear. All she could sense from him was a feeling of… Annoyance? "Miss Volinsk, if you would kindly remove yourself from my form… I have an offer for you that you would probably find rather appealing. A job, if you will."

She paused, before climbing off of him, making sure she was still within striking distance. "Talk fast before I change my mind."

He sighed, dusting his suit jacket off for a moment. "Ah, yes. You appear to have passed both tests; your stealth and assassination skills are exactly what we expected, and your reflexes are spot on as well. A bit of lacking in social skills, however that can be understood."

She growled at him, eyes flashing. "Talk faster."

He nodded, giving a faint chuckle. "Ah yes, straight to business, right? Well, miss Volinsk… We have a rather lucrative job opportunity for you. It's dangerous, and not like anything you've done in the past, however your compensation will include a million credits and the experimental Mk. VI infiltration Suit, fresh from the manufacturing."

Her eyes widened at the mention of the Mk. VI… That was a dream suit for her. The active camouflage would also cause her thermal and biological pickups to go under the same cloak of invisibility, rendering the autoturrets that were her major issue no longer a threat.

"Now, there is one other point regarding this mission. You will be working with a team of experts; a tactical and assault expert with impressive field skill, a long range marksmanship and technology expert, and a heavy weapons and demolitions specialist."

She paused, before shaking her head. "That's a lot of bodies for an assassination, even one dangerous enough to bring that kind of price tag."

"Oh, but it's not a simple assassination, miss Volinsk. I can give you more details, but I need your agreement to the mission beforehand. So, do you accept?" He stuck his hand out to shake hers.

She looked over it for a moment, before shrugging and shaking it. "Eh, why not? Nothing else to do, and it may prove to be more interesting than the usual kills. So what's the job, and who am I working with?"

The gentleman smiled, setting a briefcase he'd been carrying aside and opening it. "Your mission, miss Volinsk, is to cooperate with a Rift Runner-"

She cut him off immediately. "A Runner? Geez, what the heck do they have to do with it?" She sighed in annoyance; she wasn't too fond of Rift Runners…

"They have everything to do with it, miss Volinsk. After all, your mission is to acquire an Artifact for them… However, this artifact is somewhat indisposed. A known terrorist organization is holding it in a secured bank within a Blocked Universe. My client wishes for the Artifact to be moved from their possession into his own."

She sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, you know…"

He nodded, a faint chuckle coming out. "Why do you think we're hiring the best we can find? Besides yourself, we already have secured the cooperation of former colonel turned mercenary Josiah Eldritch. Have you heard of him?"

She flinched, giving a shake of her head. _Dang, how'd they get Eldritch involved in this?_ "We… Have some history, yes."

He nodded absently, removing his file and setting it down. "Excellent. Then you'll be able to cooperate much better. Now, there are two others that agents are attempting to bring in for the mission at hand. Once they are all involved, you will be meeting in the Lylat system and boarding a Lylatian Dreadnaught craft. This craft will move to Josiah's possession after the mission, however you will all be welcome to stay aboard should he choose to ask."

She nodded. They were forming an elite mercenary team for a large-scale bank heist… And Josiah Eldritch was involved. This could be interesting. "Alright, just one more question…" He looked up at her, head tilted. She grinned darkly.

"When do we get going?" He smiled at her, closing his briefcase.

"Pack what you need and come with me. We're leaving at dusk."

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><p>Read and review! Next time, we meet the long-range killing machine, Benjamin.<p> 


	4. AN: Important announcement

So... I took another long, hard look at this story and realized that compared to my FNaF stories, well...

It kinda sucks. Like, majorly so.

So, I'm gonna put this one in mothballs for the time being, pending a re-write come the new year. That'll give me time to wrap up Animatronic Investigations and start looking into a story for FNaF 2. So, for the time being, I'm putting Into the Rift onto the back burner and after the holidays end I'll give it a re-write, try to make it a bit faster paced and more gripping.

Sorry to have disappointed all my fans with this thing, but there's always a chance to improve it and I'm taking that chance. So, have a good one and Josiah will see y'all in 2015!


End file.
